By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
A budget plan developed Friday by three members of a newly-formed budget committee still leaves the county $60,000 short in anticipated funding over the next four months.
The group met for over three hours Friday afternoon in an effort to determine which cuts should be made in county services in order to finalize the 2002 budget for St. Francis County.
The committee, which consists of justices Donald Cagle, Regan Hill and Jack Crumbly, formulated the budget plan which cuts in half the county's assistance to the St. Francis County Food Pantry and the St. Francis County CARE Center. Those programs each received $18,000 in 2001, but based on the new proposal would receive only $9,000 this year, with no payments being made before July 1.
The plan also calls for the layoff of two county employees one St. Francis County Sheriff's Deputy and the circuit court coordinator. According to the proposal, county employees will also be required to pay a portion of their insurance costs, to the tune of $70 per month, for at least the first four months of the year.
According to Cagle, the decision on the changes in personnel and insurance were difficult decisions, but ones that had to be made. "This is not an easy decision that we're being faced with right now. It's never easy when you're having to lay people off or ask them to do the things that we're asking, but it is necessary for the county government to continue to run smoothly," said Cagle.
The committee will also suggest a $100 monthly pay cut for all quorum court members. The pay cut must be approved by all justices in order for the cut to take effect.
St. Francis County Sheriff Dave Parkman questioned committee members on whether elected officials should also take a pay cut to help with the budget problems. "If it will save a position in my office, I was just wondering if the elected officials could take a pay cut, because I would be willing to," Parkman said.
Hill told Parkman that the decision on elected officials taking pay cuts would have to come from each individual elected official, and could not be mandated by the quorum court.
The Sheriff's office could also take a hit in the elimination of the uniform allowance over the first four months of the year as well as the cutting in half of the pay for auxiliary deputies. Parkman argued that the added cost of insurance and the elimination of uniform pay could hit some deputies hard.
"When you add up the insurance that they're going to have to pay and then take away that uniform pay, some of these people are going to be taking a $130 per month hit in their pay, and that will hurt. I understand that some of these cuts are necessary but the uniform pay won't affect everyone at the courthouse, just the deputies and I don't think that's real fair," Parkman said.
Hill argued that all county departments are being asked to make changes and used the County Road Department as an example.
"We're asking the road department to give us $36,000 a month until April, with no promise on when that money will be paid back, and the judge (SFC Judge Carl Cisco) is going to do it, even though he really doesn't want too. Right now, everyone is going to have to pitch in where they can until we can get through this," Hill said.
The $36,000 Hill referred to will come from the 1-cent sales tax which is currently split 50 percent to county general and 50 percent to the road department. The change will eliminate road department funding until April.
According to Cagle, St. Francis County Prosecuting Attorney Fletcher Long also agreed to a cut in funding that is paid to his office and the offices of deputy prosecutors Gary Mitchusson and Chris Morledge in the amount of $1,683.33 per month.
The St. Francis County Museum could also see a drastic cut in their county funding if the plan is approved. The museum currently receives $3,500 per month from the county, according to Cagle, and the proposal would cut that funding to $1,000 per month.
After questions over county funds arose, Crumbly suggested that committee members reach a 30-day budget and hire an independent auditor to look at county books and give justices an accurate account of county finances and at that time resume the task of a budget.
"There have been some questions over the numbers that we're getting and in my opinion I think that it would be best if we had someone come in and give us the most accurate figures possible. That would erase any confusion over the numbers and give us solid figures to work with. Then we could better go about the job of putting this budget together," he said.
Hill answered Crumbly saying, "I understand where you're coming from with that idea, but if we do that, it will delay us by a month and programs that we could institute now and save some money would be put off. I think that the figures that we've been reporting over the last few months haven't changed and I think that we would be pretty close to the figures that an auditor would give us."
The full court will meet tonight at 6 p.m. in the Quorum Court Room to review the plan.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The continuing saga of budget woes for the St. Francis County General account challenged quorum court justices for most of last year, and the beginning of 2002 seems to be no different.
Justice Regan Hill said many of the efforts of the budget committee have been quick fixes for the problem, but now the court is being forced, by time constraints, to put a budget together for the new year.
"We've known about this problem for the better part of the year, and in the past, we've borrowed from other accounts to help the general account. As Henry Wilkinson (QC Justice) has said, we've been putting Band-Aids on the issue. Knowing that these problems were coming, we've continued to put Band-Aids on the general account and now a day of reckoning has come to the county, and we have to do something," Hill said.
Justice Earline Smith said that she was of the understanding that funding problems had led to many of problems with the budget.
"I thought that all of our problems centered around funding, and that was why we couldn't get a budget out," Smith said. "I'm not really sure on everything concerning the budget, but my general idea was that the lack of funding was the main problem that we were facing," she added.
The desire of some justices to see actual figures on what money would be carried over into the new year has also affected the decision of some justices. Evans Seawood, said that without all of the county's assets and liabilities in front of the court, he feels any budget decisions would be difficult.
"I really don't know what we're going to be able to do. In order for us to balance the budget we need to see all of the cards laid out on the table with nothing being hidden. Right now we're not getting all of the information, and at a time like this I don't think that we need to have to request the information. It should be given to us. If we're going to be asked to lay some people off, then we need to have more information. We need to know where we can cut and what we can cut," Seawood said.
Seawood also answered questions regarding reports of alleged secret meetings between county officials and members of the quorum court.
"I don't know how only two members of the court can have all of the information on the budget, and I don't like it. We have the court broken down into different committees the personnel committee, the budget committee and the solid waste committee. Each committee has six members, and I can understand that all six of these people may not be at every meeting, but I do feel that they need to be notified if two of the members are getting together. I'm not accusing anyone of anything, but I would like to see them sit down, and as a group, work on the budget problem instead of just two people trying to do everything," Seawood said.
Wilkinson, also answered questions on the reported meetings. "There are times when I've been at the courthouse speaking to the judge and run into another member of the court. Those instances are few and far between, but when you do run into another member of the court, you're going to talk about this problem. We all understand the Freedom of Information Act and how it works, and don't want to be in violation of that."
According to Hill, some of the confusion over alleged secret meetings simply came from efforts by members of the budget committee to form a starting point for budget talks.
"Never, that I know of, have their ever been any secret meetings between members of the quorum court. I can understand where some of the questions have come from, but there haven't been any secret meetings. There have been a couple of members of the committee that have been at the courthouse getting information, but that is so we could try have a jumping-off point for this budget," Hill said.
Wilkinson also commented on the availability of information from County Treasurer Ann Harbin's office and the office of County Clerk Elizabeth Smith.
"I think both of those ladies are doing a good job. One of the problems that I feel that the Treasurer faces is that she can't tell us what funding is coming back from Little Rock until she actually has it in hand. That makes it more difficult when a justice approaches her regarding finances from time to time," Wilkinson said.
Justices will meet again tonight to review a budget proposal agreed upon by a three member committee Friday.
By CRYSTAL HOLLIS
T-H Staff Writer
An investigation is under way as to the cause of an accident last week in which three construction workers plunged to their deaths while working on a tower just off Highway 284 near Forrest City.
Michelle Martin, a compliance safety and health officer with the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration in Little Rock, was in Forrest City Friday gathering evidence at the accident site located on County Road 409, about three miles northeast of Highway 284.
The three victims, Brian Barnes, 23, and John Seabolt, 26, both of Muskogee, Okla., and Jamie Anders, 27, of Hattiesburg, Miss., were killed when a one-inch rope hoisting them up the side of the tower snapped. The three are believed to have been about 100 feet up the tower when they fell. The job foreman, Forster Barnes, 50, of Muskogee, Okla., witnessed the accident.
Martin said she has not yet determined what caused the accident, but hoped a meeting today with a representative of All State Steel Erectors, the company in charge of the project, would provide some clues as to what happened.
On Friday, Martin met with St. Francis County Sheriff's Department Chief Investigator Glenn Ramsey, Gem Engineering supervisor Bernard Costa, American Tower representatives, and ATC Construction services regional safety coordinator, Francis Hartnett at the Alltel tower site.
GEM Engineering sub-contracted the job of connecting the guy wires to the tower to comply with specifications of American Tower, the company which will take over ownership of the tower next month. ATC Construction enforces safety regulations for American Tower employees.
Martin said even with all of the people she has talked to about the accident so far, she has yet to meet with one single eye-witness to the accident. "I will meet with Irving Barnes, the owner of All State Tower Erectors, and brother of the foreman, today. He has said he will bring all of the safety equipment the three victims were wearing and using when the accident happened Wednesday," she said.
Martin also said she didn't know when she would meet with the foreman.
Ramsey and Martin both said they have received numerous phone calls from manufacturers inquiring about what brands of items were used during the accident. "I have already received a call from a rope manufacturer who wanted to know if it was their rope used and from a safety belt manufacturer," said Ramsey. Martin concurred that she had received similar calls before she came to Forrest City.
Martin viewed photos of the accident scene which were taken Wednesday, but said she could not determine the cause and fault of the accident until she completes her interviews and receives a report on the safety devices which will be sent to a lab in Salt Lake City, Utah. "Everything I have right now is hear-say," she said. "I will meet with Irving Barnes, the foreman Forster Barnes and any other eyewitnesses to the actual event. Then I will have to send the safety devices and the synthetic one-inch rope to Salt Lake City for analysis."
Barnes said she would also meet with Baptist Memorial Hospital - Forrest City emergency personnel who were on the scene after the accident occurred to cover all of the bases in her investigation.
Martin told Costa Friday that OSHA will not allow work to continue on the tower until the cause of the accident is determined.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The Forrest City Police Department has not been able to find a pattern so far in a rash of criminal mischief incidents, other than a symbol that has been used recurrently.
However, Crime Stoppers of Forrest City is offering a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the responsible parties.
Automobiles have been the targets, and the only common denominator has been a spray-painted "H" inside a circle.
Police Chief Clarence McNeary said last week that the symbol is puzzling.
"I've never seen it, except in the reports," he said. McNeary went on to say he had asked members of the department who are familiar with gang activity if the symbol was a gang sign.
"Nobody seems to know exactly what this is all about," said McNeary. "And no one has come forward to take responsibility -- to take credit for their actions."
And other than the spray painted symbol, McNeary said there didn't seem to be any other connecting factors.
"We can't find anything to connect the victims," he said. "It has happened in different areas of town. And victims have seemed to be all across the board -- employed, unemployed, male, female. We're still continuing to look for some kind of identifiers, something the victims may have in common. At this time, it appears to be sporadic, random acts of vandalism."
McNeary said one officer said that the last part of November and first part of December is a time when some gangs have initiation rites, but he said there still is nothing firm.
On Jan. 2, four vehicles were spray painted at the apartments located on the corner of Graham and Cherry streets in Forrest City. On Dec. 27, an Arkansas Department of Community Punishment vehicle was spray painted while parked on Fernwood drive, and on the same day another vehicle was spray painted at the Graham Street Apartments, located at 271 Graham. On Dec. 29, another vehicle was spray painted on Fernwood Drive.
Crime Stoppers can offer rewards of up to $1,000 for information which leads to an arrest and conviction.
Anyone with information concerning any of the incidents is asked to call the Forrest City Police Department at 633-3434; also, the number for Crime Stoppers is 261-1499. All calls remain confidential.
A Wynne man was sentenced Friday to five years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections on drug charges.
Therald Sherman Holt Jr., 43, was charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. Along with the five-year sentence, he was also sentenced to 60 days in rehab, to run concurrently.
Crime Stoppers of Forrest City is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the people responsible for throwing a rock which severely injured a child's eye.
The incident occurred Dec. 28, in the 2300 block of West Broadway. A rock was thrown through the window of a vehicle. As the glass shattered, it struck a 12-year old in his eye. The injury required surgery, and it is not known if the child will regain sight in that eye.
According to Crime Stoppers, there have been several reports of rock throwing in the same area in which the incident happened. Those involved have been described as young black males wearing black coats, about 10 to 12 years of age.
Anyone with information concerning any of the incidents is asked to call the Forrest City Police Department at 633-3434. The number for Crime Stoppers is 261-1499. All calls remain confidential.